This website is a record of my passionate letters to Mole Valley council and UK Secretary of State for Culture. I encourage everyone to get involved and to write their own letters of support for the museum.

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Tuesday, 14 February 2012

Please support the planning appeal with all due haste - deadline February 29th

Gatwick Aviation Museum is now appealing against the unfair and unjustified barriers that Mole Valley Council have placed in the way of the volunteer efforts to create a unique heritage museum of historic, National and International significance.

My experience is that Mole Valley have not properly entered into correspondence with me, nor with other supporters, and this has required writing additional letters (available in this blog) and the creation of this web site to get their attention. After a short telephone call, they then cut off all further contact with letters not being answered.

This Aviation Museum has a unique collection of British Aircraft from the "golden age" of British aircraft manufacture. From the end of WWII until the 1970's British aircraft designers produced some of the most innovative and advanced aircraft of the day. In this collection there are examples from the major manufacturers of this period.

I have spent a day touring the Gatwick Air Museum. I am amazed at how much this small organization has accomplished! Their collection is unique and should definitely be preserved for future generations. The aircraft desperately need to be enclosed to limit the damage from the weather. Buildings should be constructed to house and properly display the collection as soon as possible. The location next to the Gatwick airport is a perfect location. Richard C. Keyt Granbury, Texas, USA

Howard, It would be useful to have some guidance notes on what we should write/include in our letter. It would be better if someone could prepare a letter that highlights the strong points of the museums case that we could personalise and send. Ralph

For information of that type, please write to the museum via GPVGAT@aol.com. For my own part, I will be using the letters I have previously written to the council, and the secretary of state for media, which are on this blog for your reference. I will be adding a simple statement that I support all points of the appeal.

I cant find words to describe how I felt when I first saw the Gatwick Aviation Museum, it has so much to see and adore. It makes one wonder how much hard work and dedication has been put behind it. It has History of Aviation, it is very educating, It can benefit future generations specially prospective people who want to learn more about the history of Aviation Industry. When I saw the Commercial Aviation Section, it reminded me of my Air travels during my Child hood, practically speaking I used to tell my children how the food used to be served during flights and there was an airline called British Caledonian, Now I can practically take my kids to the museum and show them all the samples which are securely saved in the museum. This is just a very small example. In reality the Authorities should give medals to people behind this hard work and honor their work to do the least in reciprocation to their effort. It is very sad to see that authorities can be so ignorant and thinking to demolish it.. I dont know what to say to this, All I will say is that it is very annoying..... Sohail Shamsi Crawley) 07908682781..

About the Museum

"Collected, renovated and privately funded over decades by the hard work and labor of love of one gentleman (now elderly) and his team of volunteers, engineers and WWII heros, this Aviation Museum has a unique collection of rare (Cold War) British Aircraft, engines and models from the "golden age" of British aircraft manufacture. The museum is a national treasure and a perfect example of David Cameron's "Big Society". --- Howard Smith

The Dispute

"The museum has been [still is] in dispute with Mole Valley District Council concerning planning permission, as despite its co-location with Gatwick Airport, the council has refused permission for a permanent museum site, citing it as being an inappropriate place for an aircraft museum." -- Wikipedia